Rockets run past Bulls for fourth straight blowout win

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CHICAGO — For all the Rockets’ fast breaks and 3-pointers, all the rapid Jeremy Lin flights to the basket and all of those slow James Harden Euro-steps through the normally tough Chicago defense, a larger point was made by a much larger player.

Months after the Bulls decided not to match the offer sheet given to Omer Asik by the Rockets, they were no match for the center they let get away.

The Rockets did what they have done well through their four-game run of blowouts, pushing the pace and lighting up the scoreboard. And it began with a strong defensive performance led by Asik.

The Rockets rolled to a 35-point lead in the second half by coasting to a 120-97 blowout of the Bulls on Tuesday night and improving to three games above .500 for the first time this season. Asik completed an eye-opening sweep of his former team with 20 points, 18 rebounds and three blocked shots.

“We just want to attack,” Asik said. “We don’t care … how many points we are down or how many points we are up. We just want to attack and play faster than the other team. That’s our mindset.”

The Rockets’ offense continued its high-octane output, hitting 120 points for a third game in a row and scoring more points than any team has against the Bulls in Tom Thibodeau’s three seasons in Chicago.

The Rockets’ 56.1-percent shooting was their best of the season. Their 66 points in the paint were their most this season, and their 31 fast-break points was their second-best effort, trailing the 33 they put up on the break Saturday against Memphis, another usually powerful defensive team that excels at controlling the pace.

Yet, for all the numbers the Rockets put up offensively, they understood that their success began at the other end of the court.

Despite their issues defensively this season, the Rockets have been generally strong in their half-court defense, especially in the paint. Their problems have been in transition defense. The Bulls don’t run, and the Rockets took advantage of that, using their halfcourt defense and rebounding to spur the offense.

“We did a really good job of getting three, four, five stops in a row and then three, four, five really hard pushes in a row, which is really key for us,” Rockets coach Kevin McHale said. “I think our guys really ran hard, and we threw ahead beautifully.

“Omer was very good tonight, needless to say. Omer is a big-time player in the middle. He was blocking shots, being big, rebounding, hitting the outlet, running, rolling behind.”

Yet, the players credited their defense for enabling them to push the pace and trigger their offense. By the time the Rockets had taken their largest lead, the Bulls were making 41.2 percent of their shots with 10 turnovers just seven minutes into the second half.
With the Bulls missing 30 shots through 2½ quarters, the Rockets had allowed only four offensive rebounds, looking to break after every rebound and steal, and even after many of the Bulls’ made shots.

“We did a great job on the boards and from there, we just tried to run,” said Jeremy Lin, who made eight of 10 shots for 20 points to go with his 11 assists. “Having (Asik) on the floor is a game-changer. He’s an incredible defender, an incredible help defender and individual defender. He anchors us.”

The Rockets let up on defense when their lead eclipsed 30 and especially when Asik sat. With the Bulls within 15, McHale returned Asik and James Harden to the game and the Rockets quickly pushed the lead back to 26. Asik blocked two more shots and finished one more a three-point play with a dunk before he returned to the bench with the lead safe.

“It’s OK,” Asik said of dominating his former team. “I’m just happy we won the game.”

Besides, by then, his point had been made along with a larger point about what fuels the league’s top-scoring offense.

“Our best offense is our defense, hands down,” said Chandler Parsons, who scored 23 points. “We’re so much more efficient on the break when we can make plays, space the floor and let James do his thing or let me or Jeremy push the ball. And it starts with O (Asik).”